Treasure Hunt

What can be more exciting than a treasure hunt? And who can resist the call of a treasure and "X" marks the spot? It has been a favorite theme for books throughout history. Frequently, these books are made into movies, like The Count of Monte Cristo and Sahara.

As children, we enjoyed making treasure hunts for one another. One memorable Father's Day, we gave my Dad a barbeque. Since we couldn't easily wrap it and we didn't want to just put a ribbon on it, we made a treasure hunt for him to find it. One clue led to another until he found his new barbeque. It was a lot of fun for all of us.

Treasures can be just about anything. For us, it was a barbeque; for Indiana Jones, it was ancient religious relics; for Captain Jack Sparrow it was eternal life. For your children, the "treasure" can be something as simple as Smarties, small toys, or your own homemade treasures. For your convenience, we have a printable treasure chest and coins if you would like to use those. Click on the link at the bottom of the page.

To create your treasure hunt you might want to follow a few simple steps:

(1) Determine what your "treasure" is going to be.
(2) Choose where you want to hide all your clues. For example, under a pillow, in the washing machine, or in the barbecue. (Treasure hunts are for fun, so they can be as short or as long you want to make them.)
(3) Write the first clue. For example, your first clue might read: At the end of this quest there lies a treasure chest. To find clue number two, cook something on the barbeque. (Clues do not have to rhyme and they can be easy or hard. The example above was pretty easy.) Maybe your next clue could be: To find your next clue, head to the zoo. This could be a pet or if you have a lot of stuffed animals the clue could be hidden among them.)
(4) When you are done writing the clues, it is time to hide them. Remember, you do not hide them in the location on the clue. I would recommend hiding them in the order they are going to be found. So read the first clue then go to that location and hide the next clue (you might want to read that clue before you hide it so you know where to go to hide the next clue).
(5) Hide the treasure where the last clue leads.
(6) Finally, start the treasure hunt by giving the treasure hunter their first clue.